Chapter 133
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 133
Ever since the audience with His Majesty Cracia, the virtual simulation had been acting up.
Bzzt, crackle.
The sensory static was severe. At first, I thought there was data loss.
'No, that's not it.'
The simulation was accelerating at an abnormal rate. It was hard to even grasp what was happening. I tried to consciously slow down time, but it was useless.
'This is Noel's doing.'
Noel had locked away his key memories. On top of the rapid acceleration, there were countless blank spots.
The scenes flashed by in a blur. Even the sounds faded into a distant murmur. No matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn't make them out.
'Noel and the Emperor of that era are talking.'
Did the concept of the Emperor's Watcher, the Akies Domini, exist back then? Even if the title didn't, a similar concept must have.
Noel must have become the Emperor's Watcher from this point onward.
Rumble.
Suddenly, an incomprehensible sight flashed before my eyes.
I saw stars and open space. And a fleet, seemingly constructed from bone and flesh, was marching forward, exuding a bizarre darkness.
The ships were a dark, bloody red, looking as if a living creature had been turned inside out. Their outer hulls, writhing with blood vessels, squirmed as if breathing. It felt as though blood might drip from them at any moment. Instead of light and fire, the thrusters at their rears spewed darkness.
Even as a mere fragment of memory, it was deeply unsettling. An instinctive revulsion welled up inside me.
'It's neither Kora nor Bellato...'
It was a style of ship I had never seen anywhere before. To begin with, they were built from organic matter. As far as I knew, no such design existed among humanity—much less among alien vessels.
Just looking at the fleet, which seemed woven out of death itself, made it hard to breathe. A heavy weight pressed down on my chest.
Flash!
A blinding light filled my vision. Unable to endure it any longer, I pulled my consciousness and senses back to the outside world.
"Haa, haa."
My breathing was ragged, like someone breaking the surface after a deep dive. I reached up to my forehead and pulled off the simulation device.
"Luka?"
"Aga—no, Giselle. Give me some water."
I had almost called Giselle "Agatha." I was still disoriented. I couldn't even tell if I was Noel or Luka. I wasn't even sure if this was the era I knew. Perhaps my life as Luka was nothing but a dream.
'A detached sense of reality. A blurred identity.'
I was experiencing a dissociative episode. Even though it was a low-depth simulation, the side effects were severe. The line between virtuality and reality had blurred.
'That's how high my synchronization rate with Noel was.'
Sensing that something was seriously wrong with me, Giselle brought over some water without a word.
"Sorry, but... a mirror too, please."
Giselle also had knowledge of virtual simulations. Realizing I was suffering from dissociation, she quickly brought over a hand mirror.
'I am Luka.'
Luka, from the 72nd Orphanage in the Lower District.
'An Imperial Guard Cadet.'
On the verge of graduation. Recipient of a military medal.
'Now, Lucaus Custoria.'
This is not a dream. The name Custoria is an achievement I seized with my own hands. Bring your consciousness back to reality. The world I live in is here. Don't get buried in the past.
'Kinuan, Heilas, Giselle, Gabriel, Gilda... Grace, Martina Diva...'
I recalled how others perceived me. The self that others see is also a part of who I am. Gathering the Luka from both inside and out, I held onto my scattering sense of self.
Clack, clack.
The hand mirror kept rattling. My hands were shaking.
'I am Luka, not Noel.'
But my brain rejected my assertion and my will. The reflection in the mirror looked like Noel. The situation was serious. My brain was perceiving me as Noel.
A rift had formed between my consciousness and my perception.
"Giselle."
I spoke, suppressing my hyperventilation.
"Tell me."
"Tell me you like me. So I can feel that this is reality."
Giselle reached out and cupped my cheek. Then, tilting her head, she pressed her lips to mine.
"...This is reality, Luka."
My ragged breathing subsided. Reflected in Giselle's pupils was Luka, not Noel.
"That works better than words."
I said, closing and opening my eyes. The moment my brain accepted reality, my condition stabilized dramatically.
"What on earth did you see?"
"I don't know either, but it must be one of the reasons Noel despaired. Barbara is... still inside the simulation."
I'd been so out of it that I hadn't even realized Barbara was right beside me. She was wandering through the simulation as if asleep, her eyelids and fingertips twitching intermittently.
Barbara's progress had to be far slower than mine. The lower the synchronization rate, the longer it takes to interpret and accept another person's memories. She would also glean less information than I had.
'Barbara might not have even seen the fleet I just saw.'
The reason I'd been forced awake was that I'd peeked into a sealed memory. It was only possible because of my high synchronization rate.
'It's true that Noel and I are alike.'
I felt it acutely. I even hesitated to dive back in. If I watched as an observer rather than from Noel's perspective, there wouldn't be these side effects.
'But I have to finish the simulation before Barbara. There isn't much time.'
And if it wasn't from Noel's perspective, the memories would lose their completeness. I would miss too much.
To gain something from Noel's choices and judgments, I had to see the simulation through his eyes.
Click.
I grabbed the simulation device. Giselle wore a worried expression but did not stop me.
I closed my eyes and resumed the virtual simulation.
* * *
I didn't know exactly what the Emperor and Noel had discussed.
But I could grasp the general flow and outline of it. Probably because the situation was so similar to the current Empire's.
'A powerful external enemy.'
A situation where defeat meant the very survival of the nation was at stake. If the nation fell, everyone—from nobles to the poor—would die, and even those who survived would be reduced to slaves.
Against the survival of the nation, the wealth gap and class conflict were trivial matters.
"...Become their focal point, Noel Mulrizka."
The faceless Emperor uttered his final words. This much I heard clearly. It was a scene Noel had intentionally left behind.
'Agatha must have seen this scene too. And Barbara will see it as well.'
This was a crucial memory. The fact that the First Rebellion was a scheme of the Imperial Family.
'With this information alone, Barbara's odds of survival skyrocket. It's like holding the Empire's weakness in your hand.'
The Emperor must have told Noel that Akresia could not survive unless internal stability was achieved. And he would have presented evidence so undeniable that even the brilliant Noel could not refute it.
"What if I refuse? Will you kill me here on the spot?"
"Do as you wish. Either way, if we cannot find a path forward, we will perish, and the Ark Planet will become our grave. Whether I take your life here or not means nothing in the grand scheme. Close your eyes, plug your ears, and enjoy your happiness. That is the life of an ordinary man."
The Emperor reached out, and the doors leading out of the audience chamber swung open on their own. Yet Noel did not leave.
"...I wanted to be proof that one could choose a better life."
"Not everyone can live in abundance. We lack everything. And more than that, we are humans who cannot cast off our greed. People would sooner throw away what they have than share it."
I was gradually pulled back into Noel's perspective.
"I know that. But down below, because there is no hope, people are crushed to death by despair. Even if not everyone can live better, hope and belief alone can give us the strength to endure the pain. Even if I cannot be the light that illuminates the depths below, I thought I could at least be a single ray to point the way."
Hearing my words, the Emperor rested his elbow on the armrest and propped up his chin.
"If it is you, perhaps you could be a small light to save the people's hearts. But in the end, everyone will die screaming. As I said before, if it is for your own satisfaction, then do as you please. I will not go out of my way to hinder you, so do not hinder me either. For I must save their lives, not their hearts. That is the duty of a ruler."
From the Emperor's face, cast in silhouette by the backlight, a blue, flame-like light flared in his eyes.
Even without closing my eyes, the world looked dark. It was the intuition of the Akies Victima. The world would grow darker. Pitch-black—so dark that nothing could be seen—and then blacker still.
Yet even if we lose our light and wander in the dark, we must live on.
Noel's profound despair pushed me out. Like a ghost, I watched him from behind.
"I accept, Your Majesty."
Before long, even Noel was dyed in black.
* * *
Noel's memories of his childhood and youth were long. Perhaps because those times were so happy and sweet that he never wanted to forget them.
But the memories of his adulthood were fragmentary. They flashed by rapidly, like mere dots on a timeline. And as if reflecting Noel's state of mind, the scenery and backgrounds were always gloomy and dark.
The synchronization rate between Noel and me plummeted until we split into separate individuals. I couldn't fully comprehend the emotions and anguish Noel felt during this period.
"Noeeeeeell—!!"
Katrin wailed. The Mulrizka family was walking the road to ruin. All because their son-in-law, of all people, had become a monstrous criminal.
Noel had even smuggled out the soldiers who followed him from the Mulrizka-Jager. Many of the early rebels' core members hailed from the Mulrizka-Jager.
Stained by disgrace, the Mulrizka family was shunned by high society and fell to the very bottom. The only path left to them was to kill Noel.
Consumed by rage, Katrin led her own unit in a surprise attack on Noel and the rebels. It was a battle into which she poured every last one of Mulrizka's remaining assets.
'Katrin.'
Noel's regret-filled heart was laid bare to me.
The Mulrizka family was also a target of the Emperor's purge. And they weren't the only ones. The private armies of the nobility, absorbed into the regular army, would vanish one by one as they clashed with Noel's rebel forces.
'A measure to reduce the influence of the noble houses.'
To push forward a grand plan, one needed the power to crush all opposition. The Emperor cleaned house from within to seize that power.
The battle between Katrin's unit and Noel's rebel forces passed quickly.
Noel's Akies Victima was in the final stages of completion. The rebel officers who had received his teachings overwhelmed the regular army.
"Ha, haha. I gave you everything. I wanted to see what your dream was. But was this really the light you were chasing? It certainly burns brightly. Because you burned down everything you built—betraying everyone to do it! Ah, how it shines! Noel!"
The captured Katrin shrieked.
"Katrin, I..."
Noel faltered mid-sentence. What words could possibly be enough for her? Narrowing his eyes, he continued.
"...This is what I wanted. To change the world from the very bottom. I realized it was impossible from the top."
Noel turned his back coldly. And Katrin took her own life in prison.
'There is no light.'
Noel failed to become a light. Instead, he became a black hole that swallowed even the faintest glimmers of hope. He would die after embracing and devouring all the light of the Empire.
The plan of the Emperor and Noel seemed to be progressing smoothly. Hammered from both sides—by the Imperial Family and the rebels—the Empire was being bound ever tighter together.
But the affairs of the world do not always flow according to plan.
There was a fierce genius who tore the meticulous plans of the two men to shreds.
An anomalous entity appeared on a battlefield. It had the appearance of an armored human. If that were all, there would be nothing unusual about it. Full-Armor Prosthetics were often deployed in actual combat.
Yet what made this entity so anomalous was... its purely overwhelming violence. It was beyond compare to conventional combat prosthetics and soldiers. It was on an entirely different level from other Full-Armor Prosthetics.
Affection is weak. Hatred is empty. But love-hate is tenacious and strong.
A willpower and fighting spirit forged from love-hate would not be crushed by a heartless machine. It drew out every ounce of potential without losing its sense of self.
The anomalous Full-Armor Prosthetic charged, tearing straight through the rebel forces. It carried a majestic presence, as if the very concept of destruction had taken form on the earth. Even the most formidable, battle-hardened veterans crumbled like toys before it.
—On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor and the subjects of the Empire, I shall judge you, Noel Mulrizka.
The letters engraved on the Full-Armor Prosthetic read Scylla. Though the voice was mechanical, Noel knew who she was.
"……Agatha."